Friday, September 17, 2010

Like Mike pointed out - working on things on a boat is made difficult by the fact that everything already has a place, so there is no place to put things as you do the work. You have to put things in your work space.

Step 1: Clean and undress the patient

The engine is under the floorboards that support the companionway stairs. All that stuff has to find someplace else to be. And then the floor needs to be vacuumed - there is always a lot of dust and etc. under the stairs. One of the realizations I came to early on moving aboard is that everything that comes aboard either leaves by being carried off, or ends up in the bilge. Cleaning the floor before lifting the panels keeps junk out of the bilge.

Step 2: Open the patient

Pull up the floor boards - they get stacked vertically in front of the sink

Lift the stairs. They pivot at the top, and hang from the overhead on a hook with a secondary safety (they're really quite heavy - I wouldn't want them to fall on me).